Despite throwing no interceptions, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has one of the worst games of his career

This Story is About...

Share This Story On...

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) is slow to get up after he is hit by New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) after releasing a pass in the third quarter at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Sunday, November 10, 2013. Romo was flagged for a penalty for throwing the ball away. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)

NEW
ORLEANS — Even when the Cowboys have success running the football in the first
half, the offense is still one-dimensional.

This team preaches balance. But the only balance the Cowboys have mastered is
their record: They’re 5-5 at the bye after back-to-back 8-8 seasons.

A Cowboys passing attack that has had to carry the offensive load all season
vanished Sunday in a game in which it had to keep pace with New Orleans, one of
the NFL’s best offenses.

The Cowboys’ defense couldn’t slow down the Saints, and the offense simply
couldn’t keep up.

Quarterback Tony Romo had one of his worst games of his career without
throwing an interception. He completed only 10 passes in 24 attempts for only
128 yards.

The 10 completions are the fewest Romo has had in a game that he’s
finished.

“I thought that we would hang in there real good with them, and you might
have a game comparable of when we played Denver, a game like that,” Cowboys
owner Jerry Jones said of the team’s Week 5 51-48 loss. “I thought we were ready
to put some offense up out there, but to their credit they saw to it that we
didn’t.”

A week after the Cowboys called only eight running plays, running back
DeMarco Murray had 11 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown by halftime. And the
Cowboys trailed, 28-10.

So much for running the football, huh?

Well, the Cowboys couldn’t pass in the first half. How’s that for a
change?

A week after Romo threw 51 passes against Minnesota, he finished the first
half a robust 3-for-9 passing for 20 yards.

Standout receiver Dez Bryant, who was bothered all week by a sore back,
didn’t catch his first pass until the final minute of the third quarter. Bryant
made a juggling catch down the right seam for a 44-yard gain, and it was his
only reception of the night.

Romo didn’t throw a pass in Bryant’s direction until 11:44 remained in the
third quarter.

Bryant said after the game that his back wasn’t bothering him.

“I wasn’t hurt, but I feel like I do what is called,” Bryant said. “That’s
what every last one of us do. When our number is called, we go out there and try
to execute the best way we possibly can. We had a game plan.”

Why wasn’t Bryant a big part of the game plan?

“I just do as asked,” Bryant said. “That’s what I do. I can’t answer
that.”

For a change, the Cowboys even ran the football in the fourth quarter. But it
was only because they were so far behind that they wanted the clock to run so
that the game didn’t get any uglier.

Even Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten contributed to the inefficiency of the
passing game. On the first play of the Cowboys’ third-quarter touchdown drive,
Witten was open down the middle of the field and dropped a pass.

The Cowboys finished 0-for-9 on third-down attempts.

“We didn’t have great rhythm on offense in general,” coach Jason Garrett
said. “We ran the ball pretty well early with DeMarco. The biggest thing is,
when you don’t convert those third downs, you are not going to get into much of
a rhythm.”

That much was evident. And it wasn’t a pretty sight.

“To their credit, they didn’t let us keep our offense out there,” Jones said.
“And we didn’t execute good, and that’s what happens.”